DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Status of Claims
Claims 1-5 are pending in this application.
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/6/24 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 101
35 U.S.C. 101 reads as follows:
Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.
Claims 1-5are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 101 because the claimed invention is directed to an abstract idea without significantly more.
Claims 1-5 are directed to a system or method, which are/is one of the statutory categories of invention. (Step 1: YES).
The Examiner has identified independent method claim 1 as the claim that represents the claimed invention for analysis and is similar to independent system claim 4. Claim 1 recites the limitations of conducting transaction via NFC device.
These limitations, under their broadest reasonable interpretation, cover performance of the limitation as certain methods of organizing human activity. Writing identification information; reading the value written to a near field communication device; and transmitting the value to a payment terminal, – specifically, the claim recites writing medium identification information… reading… a value written… transmitting… the read value, recites a fundamental economic practice, directed to mitigating risk.
If a claim limitation, under its broadest reasonable interpretation, covers performance of the limitation as a fundamental economic practice or commercial or legal interactions, then it falls within the “Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity” grouping of abstract ideas. Accordingly, the claim recites an abstract idea.
The “a near field communication (NFC) payment support device”, “a user terminal”, “an NFC tag module”, “a control unit”, “a payment terminal”, “a port”, “a communication unit”, “a network”, and “a power supply unit”, in claim 4; are just applying generic computer components to the recited abstract limitations. The recitation of generic computer components in a claim does not necessarily preclude that claim from reciting an abstract idea. Claim 1 is also abstract for similar reasons. (Step 2A-Prong 1: YES. The claims recite an abstract idea)
This judicial exception is not integrated into a practical application. In particular, the claims recite the additional elements of: a computer such as a near field communication (NFC) payment support device, a user terminal, a control unit, and a payment terminal; a communication device such as a port, a communication unit, and a network; and a storage unit such as an NFC tag module; an electronic/electrical device such as a power supply unit; The computer hardware/software is/are recited at a high-level of generality (i.e., as a generic processor performing a generic computer function) such that it amounts no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component.
Accordingly, these additional elements, when considered separately and as an ordered combination, do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea and are at a high level of generality. Therefore, claims 1 and 4 are directed to an abstract idea without a practical application. (Step 2A-Prong 2: NO. The additional claimed elements are not integrated into a practical application)
The claims do not include additional elements that are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception because, when considered separately and as an ordered combination, they do not add significantly more (also known as an “inventive concept”) to the exception. As discussed above with respect to integration of the abstract idea into a practical application, the additional element of using a computer hardware amounts to no more than mere instructions to apply the exception using a generic computer component. Mere instructions to apply an exception using a generic computer component cannot provide an inventive concept. Accordingly, these additional elements, do not change the outcome of the analysis, when considered separately and as an ordered combination. Thus, claims v are not patent eligible. (Step 2B: NO. The claims do not provide significantly more)
Dependent claims further define the abstract idea that is present in their respective independent claims 1 and 4 and thus correspond to Certain Methods of Organizing Human Activity, and hence are abstract for the reasons presented above.
Dependent claim 2 discloses the limitation of the medium identification information written to the NFC payment support device is medium identification information encrypted by the user terminal, which further narrows the abstract idea. Note that the technical elements “the NFC payment support device” and “the user terminal” are recited at a high level of generality. They do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Dependent claim 3 discloses the limitation of after the writing of the encrypted medium identification information to the NFC payment support device, decrypting, by the NFC payment support device, the encrypted medium identification information; and determining, by the NFC payment support device, whether the decrypted medium identification information is medium identification information for NFC payment, which further narrows the abstract idea. Note that the technical element “the NFC payment support device” is recited at a high level of generality. It does not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because it does not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Dependent claim 5 discloses the limitation of a microphone configured to detect a sound wave signal output from the user terminal, wherein the control unit converts the sound wave signal detected by the microphone into a signal transmittable to the payment terminal, which further narrows the abstract idea. Note that the technical elements “a microphone”, “the control unit”, “the payment terminal”, and “the user terminal”, are recited at a high level of generality. They do not integrate the abstract idea into a practical application because they do not impose any meaningful limits on practicing the abstract idea.
Thus, the dependent claims do not include any additional elements that integrate the abstract idea into a practical application or are sufficient to amount to significantly more than the judicial exception when considered both individually and as an ordered combination. Therefore, the dependent claims are directed to an abstract idea. Thus, the claims 1-5 are not patent-eligible.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102(a)(2)
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention
OR
(a) (2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 1-4 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Li (20200202328).
Regarding claim 1, Li teaches
a method of supporting near field communication (NFC) payment for a user terminal, the method comprising:
(“[0002] The present disclosure relates to writing and payment using a near field communication (NFC) portable device”).
writing medium identification information from the user terminal to an NFC tag module in an NFC payment support device
See FIG. 1 below, flow of information from the user’s device to the NFC device during the “writing phrase”.
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reading, by the NFC payment support device, a value written to the NFC tag module
See FIG. 6, items 602 & 603 “reading/encryption modules” that read/write/process information into the NFC device
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transmitting, by the NFC payment support device, the read value to a payment terminal
See FIG. 6, item 604 “sending module”
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Regarding claim 2, Li discloses
the medium identification information written to the NFC payment support device is medium identification information encrypted by the user terminal
(“[0007] An implementation of the present specification provides a payment method for an NFC portable device, including: obtaining, by the NFC portable device, NFC writing information, where the NFC writing information includes a key pair identifier and a public key corresponding to the key pair identifier; when entering the NFC communication range of a consumption machine, receiving expense information sent by the consumption machine; encrypting the expense information by using the public key to obtain encrypted information; and sending the encrypted information and the key pair identifier to the consumption machine, where after decrypting the encrypted information, a server deducts, based on the expense information, money from a user account that is pre-associated with the key pair identifier”).
Regarding claim 3, Li discloses
after the writing of the encrypted medium identification information to the NFC payment support device, decrypting, by the NFC payment support device, the encrypted medium identification information; and
(“[0007] An implementation of the present specification provides a payment method for an NFC portable device, including: obtaining, by the NFC portable device, NFC writing information, where the NFC writing information includes a key pair identifier and a public key corresponding to the key pair identifier; when entering the NFC communication range of a consumption machine, receiving expense information sent by the consumption machine; encrypting the expense information by using the public key to obtain encrypted information; and sending the encrypted information and the key pair identifier to the consumption machine, where after decrypting the encrypted information, a server deducts, based on the expense information, money from a user account that is pre-associated with the key pair identifier”).
determining, by the NFC payment support device, whether the decrypted medium identification information is medium identification information for NFC payment
(“[0010] An implementation of the present specification provides yet another payment method for an NFC portable device, including: receiving, by a server from a consumption machine, a key pair identifier and encrypted information that includes expense information, where the encrypted information is generated by the NFC portable device by using a public key corresponding to the key pair identifier, and is sent to the consumption machine by using an NFC communication method; determining, based on the key pair identifier, a private key corresponding to the key pair identifier, and decrypting the encrypted information by using the private key to obtain the expense information; and deducting, based on the expense information, money from a user account that is pre-associated with the key pair identifier”).
Regarding claim 4, Li discloses
a near field communication (NFC) payment support device configured to support NFC payment for a user terminal, the NFC payment support device comprising
(“[0002] The present disclosure relates to writing and payment using a near field communication (NFC) portable device”).
an NFC tag module to which medium identification information from the user terminal is written by an NFC writing function of the user terminal
See FIG. 1 below, flow of information from the user’s device to the NFC device during the “writing phrase”.
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a control unit configured to read a value written to the NFC tag module and transmit the read value to a payment terminal via a port
See FIG. 6, items 602 & 603 “reading/encryption modules” that read/write/process information into the NFC device
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a communication unit configured to support transception of data between the NFC payment support device and the payment terminal connected to the NFC payment support device via a network; and
See FIG. 6, item 604 “sending module”
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a power supply unit configured to supply power for driving the NFC payment support device.
(“[0039] It is worthwhile to note that the NFC portable device itself can be unpowered, so the NFC portable device has a better applicability without worrying that the device can run out of power and cannot work (mobile phone payment has this problem). Of course, in this case, the NFC portable device should still support calculation function, for example, the NFC portable device can be a card containing a coil, which can be activated by another charged device, such as the consumption machine. The card can calculate by using the energy generated by coil activation”).
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 5 is rejected under AIA 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Li in view of Choi (20130246066).
Regarding claim 5, Li does not disclose, however, Choi teaches
a microphone configured to detect a sound wave signal output from the user terminal, wherein the control unit converts the sound wave signal detected by the microphone into a signal transmittable to the payment terminal
(“[0009] a method of providing services using voice recognition in a Point Of Sales (POS) system, including the steps of loading an execution command… detecting operation mode of the POS system and activating a microphone by driving voice recognition mode in response to the detected operation mode; converting a signal, received through the activated microphone, into digital data, detecting properties of a sound wave from the converted digital data, and extracting sound wave analysis data for authenticating the received signal from the detecting properties”).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date to modify Li to include a microphone configured to detect a sound wave signal output from the user terminal, wherein the control unit converts the sound wave signal detected by the microphone into a signal transmittable to the payment terminal as taught by Choi to detect property of a sound wave specific to user or transaction for analysis for authentication and service – see “[0008] Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide technology for detecting the properties of a sound wave specific to a user from a voice signal received from the user in order to recognize an event that is generated in a POS system, analyzing the detected properties of the sound wave and comparing the detected properties of the sound wave with previously registered sound wave analysis data for each authenticated user, utilizing a result of the analysis and comparison as authentication data for assigning a service use right to the POS system, searching for an execution command having a maximum likelihood corresponding to the voice signal by performing voice recognition conversion on the voice signal, and performing service corresponding to the retrieved execution command”.
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
Ding (11410156) teaches NFC Payment Method And Terminal.
Pan (11461762) teaches NFC Payment Method And Apparatus Implemented On Mobile Terminal.
Deliwala (20190147440) teaches secured account provisioning and payments for nfc-enabled devices.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MARK H GAW whose telephone number is (571)270-0268. The examiner can normally be reached Mon-Fri: 9am -5pm.
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If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Mike Anderson can be reached on 571 270-0508. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
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/MARK H GAW/Examiner, Art Unit 3693
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